Militarization of Turkish Foreign Policy: The Case of Military Deployment Abroad

• In Event: Middle Powers, Competition, and Conflict

Abstract

The place and role of the military have increased steadily in Turkish Foreign Policy in the last decade. Military operations, the military-industrial complex and the deployment of Turkish soldiers abroad are the main instruments of this policy. The number and size of Turkish military deployments abroad have gradually increased, especially in the past decade. It has transformed from being a contributor to international efforts to establishing its military bases. This paper aims to try to analyze the transformation of Turkey’s policy on foreign military deployment and specifically focus on the military base policy and its ramifications to its foreign policy. To examine Turkey’s aim to deploy and establish its military bases, firstly, the paper will concentrate on the reasons and factors of the above-mentioned transformation and its impact on Turkish Foreign Policy. Then it will examine the logic behind the military installations in Qatar, Somalia, and Djibouti. Lastly, the place and impact of the military base policy on Turkish foreign policy will be discussed. Turkey’s policy is examined through books, articles, reports, and publications of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, press releases of the Presidential office, speeches and interviews of the decision-makers, newspaper articles, and interviews. Data will be examined by using methodologies of content and discourse analysis.

Author

• Muzaffer Senel, SUNY Binghamton University